As the infrastructure of cellular networks becomes congested and overloaded with increased subscriber traffic, the network operators have investigated ways to increase service coverage areas and offload some of the traffic from the overloaded cellular infrastructure devices. To pursue these goals, the network operators have installed wireless infrastructure devices. These wireless infrastructure devices employ an unlicensed radio spectrum to communicate with the subscriber devices. For example, the wireless infrastructure devices are compatible with the 802.11 standard, published by the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc. (“IEEE”;3 Park Avenue, 17th Floor, New York, N.Y., 10016, U.S.A., http://www.ieee.org).
When a wireless network subscriber on an in-progress call travels between service coverage areas, the networks perform a handoff of the active communication session. Sometimes the handoff occurs between disparate networks. Disparate networks are networks that employ radio technologies that are not directly compatible. The disparate networks in one example comprise a cellular network and an 802.11 network.
When the handoff occurs between the disparate networks, the subscriber in one system experiences a change in the billing rate. For example, the billing rate for the subscriber increases upon a handoff of the in-progress call from the cellular network to the 802.11 network. One shortcoming of the system is that the subscriber is not aware of the change in the billing rate. For example, the subscriber learns of the change in the billing rate for service only after the bill has arrived.
Thus, a need exists for a promotion in timeliness of notification to a subscriber of a change in billing rate that results from a handoff of a call.